The flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Shanghai (PVG) was smooth sailing! I arrived pretty much on time within the 5pm hour on Saturday and began looking for my connecting flight. It was a foggy, drizzly evening outside of Pudong airport, and I was directed outside of the secure area toward the gate, even though I had all my luggage with me. That was the first clue that something was not right.
I went to check in at China Eastern, the same airline which two days earlier did not deliver all 61 of our customer's packages to the US. It was now 6pm, but my flight was at 9:15pm so I had no worries as there was plenty of time. The agent said to come back in 1 hour to check-in, therefore I returned at 7pm. This next agent said to return in one hour to check-in. When I returned at 8pm the supervisor said to come back in 30 mins. Again I returned at 8:30pm and the supervisor said to return in one hour.
Finally, at 9:30pm I got my boarding pass and had 20 mins to rush to the gate, only to get there and find out my flight had been delayed. The Eastern Airlines staff began passing out water and snacks, to keep the passengers calm and occupied, while we waited. A little after 11pm, a group began to gather and started arguing in Chinese with the gate agent. I walked over (as if I was going to understand), and then all the passengers for this flight, with a look of frustration on their faces, one by one began to leave. I am the only person remaining in this entire area of the airport, so the gate agent tells me in English that there is no flight out of Shanghai to Hefei tonight.
So here I am, in China, going to a smaller 2nd tier city, which has a new airport that recently opened, and no taxi cabs yet servicing the new airport. In addition, I do not have a phone number for any of my work colleagues, who I have never met.
Perhaps it was the look on my face that spoke what I could not convey. Then Jerry, who had just finished his studies at some university in Australia and was returning home to Hefei, threw out a life line. He offered to take me to my hotel when we landed in Hefei since his dad was picking him up. Yes, of course I had these thoughts. "So...take a stranger up on his offer to take me to my hotel at 3:30am in the middle of freakin' nowhere or what? What's the alternative?"
When we arrived in Hefei, as promised, Jerry's dad was at the airport waiting to pick him up along with his father's driver. Jerry's dad looked a little confused when we walked out together, but Jerry quickly told him something about me in Mandarin. The driver immediately grabbed my luggage and began walking toward the car, and off we went. About 45 minutes later, when we arrived at the hotel, Jerry's dad went to the front desk to help me check-in. I gave Jerry my business card in case he might want to apply for a job with my team in Hefei one day, and we said our goodbyes. I wish now that I would have taken Jerry's photo. However, at 4:15am, all that I could think of was a hot shower and a cozy bed awaiting me.
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